


Explain

by 10Blue10



Series: Ex [4]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Beach Sex, Heart-to-Heart, M/M, Mating Dance, Norse Mythology - Freeform, Sex Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-12 23:53:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18020891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/10Blue10/pseuds/10Blue10
Summary: In which Hiccup and Toothless make love on the beach, Gothi cites the gods precedent, Spitelout has another terrible idea, Fishlegs is sent to gather information and Ruffnut starts writing a saga about Tuffnut's new favourite romance.





	Explain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sarahenany](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahenany/gifts), [Thursday26](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thursday26/gifts).



“Why does Hiccup have to be so _stubborn_ , Gobber?!”

“Why does my dad have to be so demanding, Toothless?!” 

“He never listens to sense!” 

“He never listens to me!” 

“Why can’t he just do as he’s told?” 

“Why can’t he just be on my side?” 

Unbeknownst to either of them, father and son were having very similar conversations. Whilst Gobber tried (and failed) to reassure Stoick, Toothless attempted to make Hiccup feel better. *He’s an Alpha – a Chief, I mean. Maybe he doesn’t want to…play favourites. He still cares about you. You know that.* 

Hiccup scoffed. “Yeah, he cares about me so much he disowned me. Right after Astrid dumped me…and now we’re exiled for sure. Well, they do say bad things come in threes.” He walked over to the nearest wooden post, and began firmly and persistently thudding his head against it. Toothless watched this odd behaviour for a few moments before sliding his tail-fin between head and post. 

“Toothless” Hiccup frowned, “Let me…you’re not helping.” 

*You’re hurting yourself* the dragon protested. 

“It doesn’t hurt that much!” Hiccup insisted. “It’s like when dragons just have to blast something or roar at the sky or…sometimes you just wanna bash your head against a rock. Or a post.” Needless to say, his attempt to explain this stress-relieving ritual didn’t go over well with the overprotective Night Fury. 

Frustrated, Toothless bared his teeth at Hiccup. Hiccup bared his teeth right back. Then he groaned, and slumped against the door of the pen, before sliding down it to the floor. “I messed up” he declared glumly. “I’ll go down in Berk’s history, not as the hero who ended the war, but as the guy who fucked a dragon.” Maybe it was for the best they were exiled. 

Toothless tried to think of something to cheer him up. He heard a chicken clucking somewhere, and it gave him an idea. *I’m not a dragon.* 

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. “No, I’m pretty sure you are.” 

*But I’m not.* 

“…If you’re not a dragon, then what are you?” Hiccup asked, taking the bait. 

*I’m a chicken!* To prove it, Toothless stood up on his hind legs, flapped his forelegs like a human would, and tottered around making a pretty good impression of a clucking hen. Hiccup’s lips twisted mirthfully at the sight. 

“Don’t make me laugh” he said stubbornly, “I’m trying to sulk here.” 

Clearly, Toothless needed to resort to drastic measures. He dropped back to all fours and scampered in place, lashing his tail, before folding his wings around himself and hopping in place, wearing a big gummy smile. 

“What are you _doing_?”

*Mating dance. Are you impressed yet?* asked Toothless. He half-opened, half-folded his wings and side-hopped first left, then right, issuing a weird croaking sound Hiccup had never heard him make. He sounded like a sick bullfrog. 

“Wha…” Hiccup struggled not to laugh, “What’s that noise supposed to be?” 

Toothless hopped right up to him, with a blank, wall-eyed stare, and made the noise again. Hiccup lost the fight and burst out laughing. The dragon relaxed and purred happily, nuzzling him. *Feel better now?* he asked mildly, crooning. 

“Y-yeah…” Hiccup had to catch his breath. He grinned. “Thanks, bud. You always know what to do to make me feel better” he praised, stroking Toothless’ crown. 

*I was just making it all up. The truth is…* Toothless looked around as if to make sure nobody was listening. *That wasn’t a real Night Fury mating dance.* 

Hiccup snorted. “Yeah, I kinda figured.” Then it occurred to him… “Wait, so _is_ there a real Night Fury mating dance?” 

Rather than answer, Toothless asked *What do you want to do now?* 

“I guess we’d better go through the supplies that Gobber brought us” Hiccup said practically. There was a load of dried food, some parchment and charcoal pencils, an assortment of weapons, naturally. There was also a spare tail-fin and prosthetic leg, a spyglass, spare ammo for his fire sword and the jar of mating oil. “Wow. I wish there was a way to thank him for all of this” Hiccup remarked. 

* * *

They put the supplies away, and then Toothless suggested they went for a fly. Hiccup agreed readily, but he took the jar of oil with them. Just in case. As they soared over the island, riding on thermals from the volcano, the dragon took advantage of Hiccup’s inability to leave and said *We should talk about it.* 

Hiccup sighed heavily. “I don’t see why. We’re exiled. There’s no way anyone will want us back on Berk now, not when they know what we’ve been doing.” 

*That’s not true. Gobber wants us to go back. So does your dad.* 

“He disowned me, Toothless. You saw him; he looked at me like…like I disgusted him, and he just _left._ I asked him if he was gonna disown me, and he just…did.” Tears pricked at Hiccup’s eyes, and he sniffed. “Like I don’t even matter to him.” 

Toothless shifted to catch a better wind under his wings. *Of course you matter to him* he warbled insistently, glancing back over his shoulder at his mate. *He loves you, Hiccup. You know that. Did he _tell_ you that you were disowned?* 

At first, he was going to say ‘yes’, but Hiccup faltered when he realised that Stoick had never actually _said_ that he was disowned… “Okay. So maybe he didn’t disown me…” he admitted slowly, “but he still…I get it, alright? He’s the chief, he can’t play favourites, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. But I just wanted him to be there for me as a father….and he wasn’t.” 

Toothless warbled reassuringly. *Give him time. He’s only just found out. Maybe he’ll come to his senses. He did last time* the dragon said reasonably. He remembered from before, Hiccup’s sire changing his mind. It might happen again. Hiccup stroked his scales, grateful that one of them could think clearly. 

“Yeah, maybe” he sighed, before flopping back against Toothless’ spines. “I blew it with Astrid, though. I guess I can’t blame her, but I wasn’t asking for much…was I? It’s not like I expected her to join in. I was just trying to be honest with her.” He sat up again, and asked uncertainly, “D’you think Skull is right? Are we being foolish? Toothless, are…are we doing the right thing?” 

*Do you think we are?* the dragon questioned. Hiccup’s brow furrowed slightly as he considered it. “Yes, I do” he said at last, “Maybe it’s selfish, maybe we are fools. It’s all confusing and I don’t know how I feel about this. The one thing I _do_ know is that I love you, bud, and that’s not wrong. It can’t be” he said firmly. Toothless crooned affectionately at him, and soared towards the lagoon.

He alighted on the beach, and motioned for Hiccup to dismount. “You wanna go fishing?” Hiccup asked, gesturing to the lagoon. Toothless almost shook his head, but then he remembered a word humans had for having sex (humans had a lot of words for it), and replied, *I’ve already caught the fish I want to eat.* 

“Err…you have?” 

*Yes. A Haddock.* 

Hiccup blinked, and chuckled a bit. “Oh, yeah, ha, ha. That’s…heh, you’ve really caught onto the whole ‘pun’ thing I taught you about, haven’t you?” he asked rhetorically. Toothless gave him a flat look, and it dawned on Hiccup… “Er, wait, when you say ‘eat Haddock’, you mean…?” He pointed at himself, and looked around. “As in, here? On the beach?” 

*The sand is soft* Toothless explained, pawing at it, *and we’re sheltered from the wind down here. I know you brought that oil, so I thought maybe you…* 

“I did! I mean, I do. I mean…I don’t get it, I thought you weren’t in the mood?” 

Toothless scuffed his paw through the sand, looking shy. *There…there is* he admitted, *there is a Night Fury mating dance. Selena showed it to me.* His eyes widened when he realised what he’d just said. *Not because – we weren’t – I was just-!* Toothless babbled and cringed _apology,_ feeling terribly embarrassed. It didn’t help that Hiccup was grinning like a madman. 

“Oh? Was she trying to put the moves on ya?” Hiccup couldn’t resist teasing. “Way to go, Toothless! You get all the girls…and guys.” 

*I don’t want anyone else, I just want you!* Toothless yelped. Hiccup sobered at once. His other half was distressed and the teasing wasn’t helping. He swallowed and asked gingerly, “Can…can you show me? Th-the mating dance?” 

Toothless’ pupils dilated; he nodded slowly. First he asked if Hiccup could take the saddle off; his human was more than happy to oblige. Once he was naked – in a manner of speaking, dragons didn’t really have any concept of nudity; why would they? – Toothless moved a bit away to give himself room, and tried to mimic what Selena had shown him Furies did when interested in a suitor. 

He raised his wings to show off their size, held his tail off the ground, and trotted in a sort of lopsided circle. Selena had done it a lot more delicately, but the sand was slippery and he almost fell over. *That…that’s about it* he confessed. _Hiccup isn’t going to be impressed by that_ he thought sadly. 

Except that Hiccup could feel Toothless’ emotions just as the dragon could sense his. He could pick up on his other half’s nervousness and realised that Toothless genuinely wanted to impress him. Perhaps because Astrid had broken up with him, Toothless was trying to pursue him in a draconic way. He needed to let his mate know that he liked the dance, it was sweet, but how best to…? 

Toothless blinked in surprise when Hiccup stood up from the rock he’d been perched on, and trotted in a circle. Of course it looked more like he was doing a light jog, and he stumbled on his peg leg a couple of times…but he’d copied the mating dance. Toothless crooned in delight, and wiggled. Hiccup chuckled fondly. Gods, he loved this dragon so much. He just wanted to be with him. 

Toothless spotted a bit of driftwood and pounced on it. He dragged the length of wood through the sand, just for fun; Hiccup picked up a broken branch from underneath a nearby tree, and swept it through the sand as well. They spiralled towards each other, and collided in the middle of a web of criss-crossing lines and curves. They didn’t need another mating dance; they’d made their own. 

Hiccup smiled at Toothless, and felt like his heart might burst with affection. It was certainly melting under his other half’s tender gaze. He reached out to cradle Toothless’ jaw, and the dragon pressed the seam of his mouth to Hiccup’s lips. He’d come to enjoy kissing like a human; it was intimate, gentle, and didn’t make his other half complain about being covered in saliva. 

When their kiss ended, Hiccup smiled and began removing his armour. Usually he stripped it off quickly, eager to get to the good stuff before anything happened…but now they had time. So he took it off piece by piece, tossing it aside and pausing to caress and nuzzle Toothless. When he was wearing only his tunic and trousers, the dragon sat back on his haunches and reached out… 

Toothless hesitated, paws curled against Hiccup’s waist, and looked him in the eyes. Hiccup nodded, giving permission. With tremendous care, mindful of his claws, the dragon pushed Hiccup’s tunic up over his ribs. He wriggled his arms out of the sleeves, and Toothless caught a fold of the garment in his teeth, pulling it up and off of Hiccup’s head. Then he tossed it aside, towards the rest. 

With his mate’s chest bared, Toothless ducked his head to lick at those delightful pale pink circles; the nipples that made Hiccup moan and squirm when touched with his tongue. Yet already his human lover was reaching out to rub and scratch in all the best places around his head, neck, shoulders…they each knew the other’s sweet spots, and they were driving each other wild. 

As nice as this was, Toothless decided that Hiccup was still wearing far too many clothes. He set his paws on the human’s narrow hips and dragged his pants down, or at least he tried to. Hiccup was already getting a hard-on. He made an impatient noise and reached down to get trousers and underwear past his genitals, where they slithered down to drape around his ankle and peg leg. 

_Stupid leg._ Holding onto Toothless for balance, he kicked away the rest of his clothes and unstrapped the prosthetic, flinging that aside as well. Hiccup found himself practically draped over Toothless’ head as the Night Fury determinedly pushed his snout between Hiccup’s legs. It felt so good. Not to be outdone, he used his odd position to drag his nails over the dragon’s rutting spots. 

That was the thing about them making love; they’d each adapted to the other’s style, and in doing so created their own. Toothless was careful as could be not to scratch or bite Hiccup, even in the throes of passion. On the other hand, Hiccup could be a bit rougher with Toothless, and often had to be, since dragons had thick scales instead of thin, sensitive skin. Somehow, they made it work. 

It was hard to think straight with his stiff cock being laved and purred around, but Hiccup finally remembered the oil. He didn’t want to move, but it was all the way over there…He might have said something about it, or perhaps it was just an odd-sounding moan. Either way his mate seemed to understand. They moved towards it, but halfway he decided it was quicker to just crawl over. 

He dragged the saddlebag closer and rummaged inside for the stoppered bottle…then he froze. Gasped. At the sensation of a certain tongue pressing against his orifice. Then it pulled away, and he whined. He didn’t want it to _stop_. Hiccup looked over his shoulder at Toothless, whose eyes were wide, tongue still poking out. He gave a small smile and nodded, slow and deliberate. 

To keep from losing his nerve, Hiccup looked away again. His eyes fluttered and he moaned, loudly. After all those weeks of trying to muffle the noises that Toothless brought forth from his throat, it felt good to not have to hold back. He held himself up with one hand and rubbed his throbbing cock with the other, his supporting arm braced but shaking. He gasped, shuddered and finally came. 

Panting hard, Hiccup collapsed onto the sand, losing strength in his trembling arm. He grinned at Toothless and offered his seed-soaked hand for the dragon to lick, even with grains stuck to it. Toothless obligingly sucked the come off his hand, then ducked his large head down to get it straight from the source. 

Laughing, Hiccup wriggled out of reach and reached for the bottle of oil. He yanked the stopper out with his teeth and trickled some of the viscous liquid onto his fingers. He winced at the pins-and-needles as he supported himself on his right hand and awkwardly reached back to touch himself with his left. Then a broad-finned tail slid under his chest and lifted him up, supporting him easily. 

Hiccup half laughed, half moaned as his lover licked and nibbled at his neck, then moaned for real when Toothless closed gummy jaws over the meat of his shoulder and purred. The vibrations rippled down his spine and he shuddered, stretching himself with some impatience. He loved having his mate inside him, he just wished it didn’t take so long. At least Toothless was helping him relax. 

At last, he felt like he was ready. Hiccup motioned for Toothless to roll over on his back. The dragon squirmed in the sand, scratching itches on it, purring loud enough for Freyr to hear. He hoped they were pleasing him. Hiccup crawled over to his mates hindquarters, leaned over his hip and licked the quivering slit in which his penis was sheathed. Toothless froze and made a squawking noise, which quickly turned into an appreciative moan.

Hiccup made a mental note of that for later in the back of his mind, and went back to coaxing Toothless’ member out of him. Now that he could give it personal attention, the fleshy pink appendage emerged quickly. He remembered what had almost happened, and wrapped his fingers possessively around its length. The tip disappeared into his mouth, and he suckled it. 

Toothless made an undraconic noise and arched his back as Hiccup moaned, feeling his mate’s arousal just as keenly as his own. It still blew his mind that he could turn Toothless on like this. Forget taking their time; he wanted his other half joined with him, right now. Hiccup lathered his already slick cock with the oil, and then climbed up and sat on Toothless’ stomach, legs apart. 

The two of them had had a lot of fun ‘experimenting’ with how to mate in a way that was comfortable for both. This position, each on their backs, was one of the best. Hiccup steadied his lover’s cock with one hand, and carefully edged himself down onto it. Toothless, for his part, squeezed the muscles of his penis so it could fit more easily inside his smaller, so much more fragile mate. 

Hiccup lay back, and the change in angle made Toothless’ cock pulse. The throbbing traveled through Hiccup’s entire body and he shuddered with it, eyes closed against the sunlight. They were joined as fully as they could be; and in those moments, as they were one, Hiccup was glad they’d left. _This_ , he wanted. 

Their lovemaking was slow and passionate and _loud_ , because now they didn’t have to hold back. The moans and shouts of each other’s names woke nearby Terrors, of both sorts, who crept up on the rocks and trees to watch the peculiar rutting. Toothless-Hiccup were vaguely aware they were being watched, but they were too wrapped up in themselves to care what the dragons thought.

After they had climaxed, Hiccup lay sprawled in the curve of Toothless’ body, sated. A sheen of sweat covered him, and Toothless happily licked it off. “Doesn’t wash out” he mumbled half-heartedly, snuggling in. He listened to the sound of the waves and dozed. The Terrors sniffed curiously at their effects, strewn all over the beach; one dragon lapped at the oil in the jar and recoiled spitting and hissing in disgust. Toothless warned them off with a growl.

* * *

On Berk, the village was in uproar. Well, at least the adults were; the children were oblivious, and more than a few had asked where Hiccup and Toothless had gone. “They’re on holiday” the kids were told, because explaining the truth was unthinkable. A week of rumours and gossip passed; in an effort to deal with the problem, Stoick had asked Gothi for guidance, but she’d needed time to think. He invited everyone to a Thing so they could hear her verdict – via Gobber. 

Everyone had questions. What was the heart bind? Was Hiccup immortal? Had Toothless cursed him? Why had this happened? How had it happened? What were they going to do about it? Stoick did his best to field these questions, but eventually just shouted “QUIET! Everyone be quiet! Gothi has been communing with the gods.” He turned to her. “Wise Elder, are the gods angered with us?”

Gothi had a stack of wax tablets with her, the surface of which one of her Terrors would melt so she could scratch out runes. It was one of Hiccup’s ideas, actually, so she wouldn’t always have to write in the dirt. She handed the first one to Gobber. He took it and raised an eyebrow. “She says, if they were, we would have been smited by now.” That sent a ripple of murmurs going around. 

Then Stoick asked, “Are the gods angered by Hiccup and Toothless…doing this?” 

Gothi passed over the second tablet. “They follow the god’s example.” 

Outraged shouts were made and quickly silenced when Stoick yelled “Shut up! Elder, I don’t understand. How can they be following the example of the gods?”

The cranky, mute old woman rolled her eyes at him. She gave the third tablet to Gobber, who read “Freyr, worshiped by men loving men. Odin, and Freyja, have both used seithr. Was that supposed to rhyme? Ow!” he cried, as she whacked him on the head. “I didn’t do anything! So, what are you saying? That the gods can lay with men, so it doesn’t matter if Hiccup and Toothless are boffing?” 

Gothi nodded slowly. The crowd muttered, restless, and Spitelout protested “With all due respect, Elder, I disagree. Being _ergi_ is shameful in the extreme, but it is not, I will admit, a crime to be so unmanly” he acknowledged. 

_You just wish it was_ Gobber thought dismissively. “What’s your point, then?” 

“My _point_ is that it is Hiccup lying with his dragon as with a man that is unnatural. Especially if, as I suspect, he is the one being mounted, as it were.” 

Gothi poked Gobber with another tablet. It only had three words on it. “Loki and Svathilfari, sire of Sleipnir” he read aloud. “Well, that answers that!” 

Spitelout pursed his lips. “I hardly think that counts. Everyone knows that Loki is a trickster, a shape-shifter. He took the form of a mare for that encounter, but it’s not as if Hiccup is able to take the form of a dragon, or Toothless of a man.” 

“Bet he wishes he could!” someone exclaimed, and there was laughter at that. 

“Even if the Elder is right, and the gods aren’t angered by their…activities, this is still a problem Stoick. Your son was set to court and marry Astrid; she would have given him, and our tribe, an heir. But now he is _futhflogi_ (1), and unless Hiccup follows in Loki’s footsteps even more and births some sort of dragon-man abomination” – Spitelout was suddenly interrupted by the twins. 

“Could that happen?! Cool!” 

“I wanna birth an abomination!” 

“I thought you _were_ one – Argh!” 

Stoick rubbed his temple in exasperation. “I highly doubt either of them are going to get pregnant with Helspawn” he remarked dryly. “Besides, it will be a while yet before Hiccup will need an heir of his own – and he could adopt.” 

“You’d leave the future of our tribe to be raised by a rassragr and his dragon?” Spitelout asked incredulously. “I have a solution to solve all of this mess.”

 _Why didn’t you just say that, then?_ “Very well, let’s hear it” Stoick said tersely. 

“I propose we go out to them, bring them back here with force if necessary, and keep Toothless away from Hiccup whilst we marry him off to Astrid. They can reunite after the marriage is consummated. Surely, once he’s bedded a woman properly, he’ll snap out of whatever fog clouded his mind and made him see the Night Fury as an acceptable substitute” explained Spitelout, folding his arms.

His suggestion had a lot of people nodding and murmuring thoughtfully. “Not a good idea, Stoick” warned Gobber, shaking his head. “How d’you think Hiccup’s gonna react if ya go there ta capture him and Toothless? Like _before?_ They’ll see ya comin’ from miles away and flee. Even if you _did_ get ‘em back here, they’d be gone first chance they got! You’d lose his trust for good, for certain this time.” 

Stoick sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, Gobber had a point. “Aye, you’re right. They’re spooked. If we drag them back here they’ll resent us at best and at worse they’ll leave and…and not come back.” The thought of Hiccup running away from home – being an outlaw – was uncomfortable. He’d already lost Valka. He didn’t want to lose his son too. _At least he’d have Toothless with him…_   

“Well, what _are_ we gonna do about it?” somebody in the crowd demanded.

Stoick honestly had no idea. Then Fishlegs, of all people, stepped forwards. “Um, Chief? I think…I think I might have an idea that could help…" 

* * *

It was the fourth day that the doubts started creeping in. Hiccup was sure that they’d done the right thing by fleeing Berk; it hadn’t been safe. “Do you think we should have gone back with them?” he asked Toothless as the two of them curled up in the clubhouse together, a fire blazing. “Saved face? I mean, if we go back now, it’ll look pathetic…they might not even want us back” he realised.

*You’re too stubborn and proud for your own good, sometimes* Toothless responded, yawning. *You’re ashamed to go back home, but you’re scared to leave it for good. That’s okay. We don’t have to go back until you’re ready* he assured Hiccup, purring _reassurance._ Hiccup nestled closer to his warmth and the vibrations running through them both like ripples in water. *I love you.*

“I love you too” Hiccup smiled, giving him a kiss. He broke it off and sighed as yet another doubt rose to the surface. “I keep…I keep thinking about Astrid” he confessed, picking at the snarls in his clothing. “Whether I could’ve done more to persuade her, or if it would even be worth it. I don’t think I can just – stop being with you, I know it wouldn’t change anything but I…I really enjoy it.” 

*So do I* Toothless agreed, smiling. *Are you still upset that Astrid broke up with you?* he asked, with a sympathetic warble. He nuzzled his mate gently. 

Returning the affection whole-heartedly, Hiccup replied “Yeah, I just…she has every reason to be mad at me, but I tried to do the right thing. I told her the truth. Most people who cheat don’t do that. What’s worse is – I mean, before, it was simple. Y’know? I loved you, and I was _in_ love with her, but now I can’t help wondering if it…if it _was_ love, what we had. Or if she…” Hiccup trailed off. 

*If she what?*

He sighed. “If she only liked me because I was the Pride of Berk.”

Toothless’ eyes narrowed. *Don’t say that* he admonished, batting Hiccup with a wing, *You know that’s not true. Astrid did love you. She probably still does.*

“I doubt it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s picturing my face on the trunks every time she goes out to hurl her axe at trees” Hiccup remarked dryly; then he huffed and went on, “But seriously, bud, what if that _is_ the only reason she was into me? Or what if I just liked her cos she was pretty? Am I that shallow?”

The dragon licked him. *You’re being ridiculous* Toothless said patiently as Hiccup spluttered. *This is why I don’t like ‘ifs’. It’s too hard to make them ‘whats’. I don’t think you only courted Astrid because her form is pleasing, though. That isn’t who you are. Do you really _believe_ all of this?* he asked. 

Squirming under Toothless’ gaze, Hiccup finally admitted “No, not really. I just can’t help questioning all of these changes” he confessed, “and I got a crush on Astrid because she was beautiful – she still is – and then she was my friend, and supportive and we were a team…and now I can talk to you and I…I don’t know if I need her anymore. But I still want her. Am I making sense?”

*…Sort of* Toothless answered. He didn’t quite understand what was upsetting his other half, but he would do his best to make it better. He whined guiltily and said *I never meant to come between you and Astrid. I just wanted you to be happy.* He sighed. *I shouldn’t have tried to explore you that night.* 

“No – Toothless, don’t blame yourself” his mate insisted, stroking his head. “It’s not your fault. It’s no-one’s fault, things just…didn’t turn out like we expected.” Hiccup looked down at his hands, ashamed. “If anything, I should apologise to you.  I’ve been thinking about us and…I feel like I’ve been using you.” 

Toothless’ nostrils flared; he bared his fangs in shock and denial. *No! Hiccup, you haven’t…used me how?* he asked, tilting his head. It made no sense. 

For a moment, Hiccup struggled to explain. “You know we humans have a lot of traditions. It isn’t proper for a courting couple to make love before marriage…but there was no reason I couldn’t marry Astrid. Well, except I didn’t want to rush anything. And I didn’t have a dowry. And I was worried she’d get pregnant. And we were busy with” – he suddenly had a face full of tail. 

*That’s a lot of no reasons* Toothless remarked sardonically, raising an eyebrow. Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. “Okay, yeah…but then, we started…y’know…and suddenly I could make love and uh, _satisfy urges_ without worrying about all of…that. Marriage and babies and stuff.” 

*I still don’t understand…you feel guilty because making love makes you feel good? It’s _supposed_ to make you feel good!* Toothless protested. 

“I know, but I used you to make myself feel good without consequences!” 

The dragon snorted. *So what? I don’t _feel_ used. You humans are crazy.* 

It was clear that Hiccup wasn’t going to win this argument; he gave in and confessed, “I’m sorry, Toothless. I love you, and I want this, but deep down a part of me can’t help feeling…ashamed.” What they were doing wasn’t normal, and he’d never followed the norm but this was…different. He could not help feeling ashamed any more than he could help being in love with his other half. 

Toothless nuzzled him, ever supportive and understanding. *It’s okay, love. You don’t have to be sorry, or ashamed. You’ve done nothing wrong. There is nothing wrong with you* he insisted, and gazing into his eyes, Hiccup believed him. The young man settled against his side, more at ease and ready to sleep. 

* * *

Three days later, the Terrors alerted them that *Dozing and Knows Stuff are coming!* Sure enough, a certain brown Rock-Tail and her rider came buzzing to a landing on the platform outside the stables, as Toothless-Hiccup watched.

*Hello Toothless, hello Hiccup* Meatlug said cheerfully, wagging her tail. 

Fishlegs looked equally pleased to see them. “Hiccup! Hi! How’ve you been?” 

“Uh, fine? Fishlegs, what are…I wasn’t expecting visitors. Not that I’m not pleased to see you” Hiccup added hastily, lest he cause offence. 

“Oh, yeah, sorry to drop by unannounced but uh, Meatlug and I felt like having a holiday. Isn’t that right, girl?” Fishlegs asked his dragon, a little desperately. She blinked in confusion and asked *Is it? I thought we were doing something else.*

Hiccup bit his tongue to keep from laughing. “Is that really why you’re here?” 

Fishlegs dithered for all of a few seconds before reaching out and grabbing Hiccup by the shoulders, hauling him in. “You. Can. Understand. Dragons.” 

Caught off guard by the sudden breach of personal space, Hiccup grinned and carefully detached himself, beckoning for Fish to follow him. “C’mon, I’ll show you my notes.” He’d written a lot of new dragon knowledge down, and showed it all to a thoroughly fascinated Fishlegs in the clubhouse. “So, uh, listen, Meatlug says you’re here to ask me about me and Toothless’….. relationship” Hiccup remarked, faux casually, after Fishlegs had finished geeking out. 

A blush spread over his friends cheeks. “Oh, um. Yeah. That. Pretty much every adult in the village knows about it, and none of them are exactly pleased. Especially Spitelout. Your dad asked me to come and talk to you about it” Fishlegs explained, twisting his fingers together nervously. 

“He…hasn’t disowned me, then?” 

“No? Not as far as I know. What makes you think he has?” 

“…Oh, just misinterpreted something. So, nobody’s taking the news well, then.” 

Fishlegs scoffed. “You have no idea. We just had a Thing yesterday to discuss it; everyone thinks you’ve either gone mad or been cursed, or both. Gothi vouched for you; she said – kind of – that the gods weren’t angered, because they’d done similar things. Astrid’s been threatening to cleave anyone who so much as mentions it to her, the twins think it’s romantic, and Snotlout…he asked me to tell you he can ‘no longer in good conscience associate with you’.” (2) 

Hiccup nodded slowly, taking it in. “And…and how do you feel about it?”

The blush deepened. “I don’t really know what to think” Fishlegs admitted. “I mean, it’s _weird_ …no offence…”

“None taken.” 

“But you’re still my friend, and I guess if you’re happy…?” Fishlegs shrugged. “Just be glad your dad sent me and didn’t go with Spitelout’s plan.” 

“Why? What was his plan?” 

“He suggested they come here, bring you guys back to Berk and keep Toothless away from you whilst they married you off to Astrid. He said that once you’d ‘bedded a woman’ you’d snap out of whatever made you bed Toothless instead” Fishlegs explained. “But don’t worry, Gobber talked your dad out of it. Said it would just make you trust us even less, and push you away more.” 

“I owe Gobber big time. Can you tell him thanks, from me?” Hiccup asked.

“Sure. Hey, uh, Hiccup? You _are_ gonna come back, right? I mean, you wouldn’t just _leave_ …” Fishlegs said nervously, twisting his fingers together. “Would you?” 

Hiccup sighed. “I wouldn’t want to. I’d miss you guys, honest…but Toothless and I are heart bound. I have to put him first, for both our sakes – and incidentally, if a heart bound pair is separated against their will it _hurts_ ” he revealed, solemn.

Fishlegs looked uncomfortable. “That’s the, uh…this heart bind thing. A lot of people think that _that’s_ why you’re doing this. That Toothless…used it to make you more, um…pliable” he revealed, blushing furiously. 

Hiccup snickered. “Believe me, I can do that myself. But Toothless didn’t” – he was interrupted by the unexpected arrival of the twins, who grinned at him. 

“You, my friend, have caused some _beautiful_ chaos back home!” Tuff declared. 

“Everybody thinks you’re a freak!” Ruffnut beamed, “Loki would be so proud.” 

“And you’re following his example! Spitelout thinks you’re gonna birth a dragon-man abomination” Tuffnut continued, with nary a break in between. 

Fishlegs rolled his eyes. “He doesn’t really think that. It was sarcasm.” 

“Yeah, yeah, but if you _do_ have a mutant hybrid baby, can we name it?” 

*They do know we’re both males, right?* 

*I don’t think they care.* 

Hiccup chuckled in spite of himself. “Okay, in that _extremely unlikely_ event, you can make suggestions. So…Fishlegs said you guys think this is romantic.” 

“Well, it is! Forbidden amore, star crossed lovers…one man, one dragon, one passionate affair!” Tuffnut said dreamily. 

“I’m gonna write a saga about it!” Ruffnut declared, pulling out a notebook and pencil. She took a seat and looked at Hiccup expectantly. “Proceed.” 

“Oh-Kay” he said slowly, “like I was saying, Toothless didn’t heart bind to me so I’d want to mate with him. He did it to save my life. It’s not like as soon as we heart bound I stripped off and threw myself at him” Hiccup quipped. Toothless barked a laugh, and Fishlegs turned even more crimson, if that were possible. 

“Yeah, but you should’ve! I’m gonna put that in the saga” Ruffnut announced. 

“No! It’s gotta be a slow burn” insisted Tuffnut. “Get it? _Burn_? Cos dragons?” 

“Ugh, _fine._ I’m throwing at least one ‘Hiccup jumps Toothless’ scene in, though.” 

Hiccup and Fishlegs rolled their eyes. “Anyway, the heart bind didn’t _make_ me fall in love with Toothless…but it lets me understand him, and feel what he’s feeling, and we wouldn’t have explored each other if we weren’t…so it helped.” 

There was a pause, broken only by the feverish scratching of Ruffnut’s pencil. At last, Fishlegs inquired, “Um, what d’you mean, ‘explored each other’?” 

“It’s a…tradition, if you like, for newly heart bound pairs to explore each other’s bodies. It’s supposed to build trust, strengthen the bond…it does often lead to mating, for dragons, but we didn’t…go that far. So I, I let Toothless explore me and he was _so_ gentle, and sweet, and he looked at me, at _this_ ”, Hiccup gestured to his whole body, “as if I was the most precious thing he’d ever seen. And he told me, ‘I’m yours’, and it…it made me feel special” he confessed, blushing.

He took a deep breath to gather himself. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it…about him. The way he looked at me, made me feel. I, I guess what I’m trying to say is – I fell in love with how much he loves me” Hiccup revealed shyly. Toothless nuzzled him, and he nuzzled back, shameless. 

“I told him how I felt – after a nudge – and I thought the same thing as everyone else. That I was a freak, that it was unnatural…but Toothless pointed out that there’s a lot of things – his tail-fin, the huts we live in, humans riding dragons – none of that is ‘natural’, when you think about it, but all of those are _good_.” 

“Yeah, and there’s loads of natural stuff that sucks. Like poison ivy, and leeches, and – Chicken!” Tuffnut suddenly beamed in delight and rushed over to scoop up his former pet, which had just waddled in. “Oh, I missed you so much! Do you remember me, my fine feathered friend?” he asked. The bird squawked. 

“Seriously, bro, stop interrupting my muse! You were saying?” Ruffnut prompted Hiccup, who was warning Toothless off questioning how Tuffnut actually knew that the chicken he was cuddling was really his old pet. 

“Uh, right. The point is, the two of us making love might be weird, and unnatural, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Even dragons sometimes mate with different kinds of…hey, d’you know how a Gronckle and a Nightmare mate?” When they just stared at him, Hiccup grinned and declared, “With difficulty!” 

The joke got exactly the reaction it deserved – none – apart from Tuffnut, who burst out in guffaws as if it were the funniest thing he’d ever seen.

“Wow. That joke is _terrible._ ” 

“It’s not mine, it’s his” protested Hiccup, jerking a thumb at Toothless. The dragon grunted indignantly. *I thought you _liked_ that joke!*

Hiccup pet him in apology. “Yeah, so, we experimented…and well, I’ll spare you the sordid details, but it felt _really good._ ” 

“No, don’t spare us the details!” Ruffnut insisted. She gave him a leer. “Did he use his tongue?” 

“Uh-huh. I’ll leave _where_ up to your imagination.” 

“Ooh!” 

“How big is his you know what?” Tuffnut inquired.

Hiccup held his hands a couple of spans apart. “About this long.” 

They all stared at the gap, and Tuffnut whistled. “You can take that? That’s impressive, for such a skinny little guy!” 

Rolling his eyes, Hiccup explained “Not all of it. He can pull it in a bit, make it shorter…but I can still take a lot of it. Also, his cock throbs” he said bluntly.

Fishlegs and the twins stared at him; the former looked mortified, the latter looked intrigued. “Throbs, you say? Tell us more!” Ruffnut said eagerly. 

“Well, I guess it’s more like a pulsing? There’s these rings of muscles that contract and relax one after another, really fast. I think it’s because dragons can mate in midair – it’s kind of hard to thrust if you’re, y’know, falling out of the sky, so they needed a different way to…to do it.” 

“Fascinating” murmured Fishlegs. He seemed to catch himself and flushed, before asking “Aren’t you worried about getting some kind of… disease?” 

“…Toothless says he’s not sick. And no, I’m not – humans can’t even catch diseases from dragons, can they?” Hiccup responded, puzzled. “Unless you mean one of _those_ diseases, but I couldn’t catch one of them from Toothless anyway cos he’s a virgin. I mean, he was. He’d never mated before now.” 

“You mean you were his first? This gets more romantic by the second!” 

“Trust me, Fishlegs, I’m in no danger. I won’t get sick, and Toothless would never hurt me. That’s why…I mean, he’s so much bigger and stronger than me, and he could hurt me, but he never would, and it’s kind of a turn on. But really it’s because – it’s like when we’re flying, we’re _equals._ We become one and I can feel how good I’m making him feel and how much he loves me and he can feel how much I love him and how good he’s making me feel…and it’s nice.”

He ran a hand through his hair and said, “I know I must seem insane, digging my heel in about something so ludicrous. But I can’t help how I feel about him. And I know I hurt Astrid, and I’m sorry for that. Could…could you tell her I miss her? That I’m willing to talk, when she’s ready?” he asked Fishlegs, who nodded. 

“Yeah, of course. And Hiccup? Thanks for explaining it; I didn’t really understand before, but I think now I do. You’re just…in love, so you make love” he realised. 

Hiccup smiled gratefully at him; but the moment was spoiled when Ruffnut declared “Eesh! Enough with the mushy stuff. What kind of kinks d’you guys have?” she inquired eagerly. 

“Uh…kinks?” 

“Yeah, y’know, the interesting stuff” Tuffnut remarked. “Bondage, power play, that thing where you smear honey over yourself…” he trailed off. 

“Does Toothless have any cool dragon kinks?” Ruffnut questioned. “Does he like pretending to eat you? Is there fire involved?” 

Toothless and Hiccup both stared at her incredulously. “No, no we don’t do any of that stuff. We…we just make love.” 

The twins looked appalled. “You mean you just screw each other? And then, what, snuggle afterwards?” Tuffnut demanded. 

“Um, yeah, pretty much.”

“But that’s _boring_!” Ruffnut protested. “I can’t believe you’re into milk sex!” (3)

“Yeah, but he’s having milk sex with a _dragon_.” 

“True…does wanting to screw a dragon count as a kink?” 

“Needs more research.” 

Hiccup felt like the conversation was going nowhere. “You guys came all the way out here; is there anything you wanna do besides interrogate me about my sex life?” he inquired, half sarcastically. 

“I’m gonna go with Chicken to see her family” Tuffnut announced. “Have you had any more fluffy chick-chicks?” he cooed, “Are they all grown up?”

“Yeah, whatever, bro. If anyone needs me, I’ve got a saga to write.” 

Fishlegs remarked, “Now that you mention it, I would like to visit Darkvarg. Do…do you think you could introduce us? Properly?” he asked hopefully. 

Hiccup grinned. “Sure” he replied, for the first time feeling like maybe, just maybe, things would work out okay after all.

**Author's Note:**

> (1) A term for people who avoided marriage for sexual reasons and literally means ‘he who flees the female sex organ’. The Norse had such creative insults. I guess if they duelled over them they’d have to be.
> 
> (2) This isn’t actually his idea. No prizes for guessing whose it is…
> 
> (3) Because the Vikings didn’t know about vanilla…as far as I can tell.


End file.
